Alejandro Avila, left August 2002, right July 2005, was sentenced to death for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion in July 2002. She was abducted while playing with a friend near her mother's apartment in Stanton, and her nude body was found the next day near Lake Elsinore. Avila's DNA linked him to the sexual assault, and Samantha's DNA - perhaps left by her tears - was found in his car.

This is the police sketch of the man suspected of kidnapping Samantha Runnion, 5, outside her Stanton apartment. The man was later identified as Alejandro Avila.

Alejandro Avila, right, accused of kidnapping and killing 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, stands behind bullet-proof glass in a courtroom during his arraignment, Aug. 9, 2002, in Santa Ana. Avila pleaded not guilty as prosecutors investigated additional claims against him in a separate case.

At a press conference at the Orange County Superior Courthouse, Erin Runnion , standing next to a photo of her murdered daughter, Samantha Runnion, tries to hold in her emotions while listening to the prosecution team talk about the recommendation of the death penalty.

Murder victim Samantha Runnion seen in this family photo.

Outside the Lake Elsinore apartment of Avelinda Avila, upper apartment, center, the media goes about covering the arrest of suspect Alejandro Avila in the Samantha Runnion kidnapping-murder case. Alejandro Avila often with his mother and sister at the Lakeview Apartments at Lincoln and Flannery streets in Lake Elsinore. Officers had served a search warrant the previous night at his mother's apartment and removed items from the apartment. File photo from 2002.

Tupoutoe Mataele, left October 2005, right June 2007, was sentenced to die for shooting an Anaheim acquaintance, Danell Johnson, at point-blank range in 1997 while shaking the man's hand. Special circumstances: murder by lying in wait. When he was sentenced, Mataele quoted rap star 50 Cent and told Judge James A. Stotler, "Have mercy on me.''

Tupoutoe "T-Strong" Mataele gestures during his sentencing hearing in Santa Ana's Superior Court for the shooting death of Danell Johnson and the attempted murder of John Masubayashi in 1997.

The Orange County Register is publishing summaries of the 58 killers sentenced to death by Orange County judges, two per day during weekdays, from the oldest case to the newest. Here are Nos. 43 and 44:

2005

Alejandro Avila, of Lake Elsinore, was sentenced to death for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion in July 2002. She was abducted while playing with a friend near her mother’s apartment in Stanton, and her nude body was found the next day near Lake Elsinore. Avila’s DNA linked him to the sexual assault, and Samantha’s DNA – perhaps left by her tears – was found in his car.

2005

Tupoutoe Mataele, of Norwalk, was sentenced to die for shooting an Anaheim acquaintance, Danell Johnson, at point-blank range in 1997 while shaking the man’s hand. Special circumstances: murder by lying in wait. When he was sentenced, Mataele quoted rap star 50 Cent and told Judge James A. Stotler, “Have mercy on me.”

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